Honorable Mentions: “Bob Hearts Abishola” is probably the last laugh-track sitcom I’ll ever watch, and it’s true that many critics weren’t exactly wrong when they said the jokes were repetitive. However, I still feel compelled to have warm feelings towards one of the only TV shows I’ve ever seen that’s even remotely similar to my own life, which is perhaps a scathing indictment of just how similar most TV show characters actually are. The quietly-original “Abishola” had a lead hero who isn’t chiseled, fairly-unglamorous characters working jobs gritty jobs most shows wouldn’t touch (you learned more about the compression sock business or the grind of non-ER nursing than you ever thought you would), and an actual positive portrayal of black/white couple as the main characters. The things that make this show different are easy to dismiss, but isn’t having a traditional, 100-episode CBS sitcom centered around Nigerian immigrants even more revolutionary than some 6-episode Hulu show? Ultimately, I think it does far more good reaching people that ordinarily wouldn’t watch these types of characters than many of the more critically-hyped shows…“Franklin” is my version of comfort television: not especially exciting, but beautiful French-period sets, political intrigue, and a wry, winning performances from Michael Douglas as perhaps America’s most underrated Founding Father…“Iwaju” is my pick for best family entertainment of 2024 because it showed a world I had never seen before (a futuristic version of Lagos) and had actual moral complexity between its heroes and villains, which is virtually unheard of for kids animated shows. Perhaps surprisingly, this under-the-radar gem was easily the best show Disney Plus put out last year, and it really wasn’t even close…“Slow Horses” had a return-to-form fourth season that featured an enjoyable cat-and-mouse game between “Horses”‘s most physically capable agent (Rivers) and his estranged biological father. It’s unusual to watch shows that present good-and-evil not just as forces at war, but at play (same for the polarizing second season of “Squid Games,” which I also enjoyed).
10. (tie) “Only Murders in the Building” and “A Man on the Inside”…Two different series about beloved senior citizens investigating crimes, and layering in real belly laughs with genuine truths about aging. Some of the scenes are surprisingly deep, like when Zach Galifianakis hits on Oliver Putnam’s real fears about a haphazard biopic by saying “I get it, you don’t want to be forgotten,” revealing a vulnerability that the zinger-prone Putnam probably wouldn’t say about himself or almost any scene Ted Danson has with certain nursing home patients that see the end on the horizon. “Murders” found a way to make celebrity supporting roles truly work for its fourth season (despite doubling the star wattage of its cast, it never feels like some hoary “SNL” cameo-heavy episodes) and “Inside” walked the tightrope between the poignancy of aging with Danson’s own ability to age like an excellent wine.
9. “Curb Your Enthusiasm”…I’ll admit that most of this mention is just because Larry David’s iconic series has meant so much to me over the years (it’s been on TV since I was a preteen), and yet I’ve never found a way to include it in previous Alabama Liberal “Best Show” countdowns. Nobody would claim the final season is Larry’s best, but even one of the lesser-“Curb” seasons is still strong enough in a relatively-weak TV year. Still, there were a handful of standout moments and episodes (“The Dream Scheme” and “Colonoscopy Bag” were probably my favorites), and I liked that this is “Curb”‘s most political season ever. Whereas many older comedians are using their huge platforms to complain that uber-left sensitivity has ruined comedy (at a time when the country has embraced outright fascism), David’s skewering of Georgia’s ass backwards election laws was “pret-tay…pret-tay…pretty good.”
8. “True Detective: Night Country”…I’ve already mentioned the great characters portrayed by Jodie Foster and (especially) Kali Reiss, with the latter smoldering through the frigid temperatures of each scene she’s in. However, the real star of the 4th (and best since the first) season is the astounding tundra scenery, the most stunning landscapes in 2024 television (which is saying something in a year that also had “Dune: Prophecy,” “Ripley,” “Franklin,” and “Shogun”). Almost exactly a year ago, the series made for the perfect winter mystery to enjoy a warm beverage with.
7. “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live”…If Trump hadn’t been reelected, I don’t know if this would’ve made my list of “Best” shows, but it remains one of the only narratives this year to show the pseudo-“comforting” horrors of being led by a sociopathic fascist government you can never fully trust. Rick Grimes remained as annoying as ever (and Jadis was entirely unwelcome, with her death getting cheers from this viewer), but Michonne remained the ultimate Comic-Con fantasy girlfriend (badass, vulnerable, romantic, idealistic) and is a pretty good representation of the way some of us see Kamala Harris. The ending of this miniseries is the best single scene “The Walking Dead” universe has ever had, and I also feel this is the best “TWD” series out of all of them.
6. “Hacks”…This series continues to display exactly how abbreviated the lives of most TV shows have actually become. Whereas almost any beloved show pre-2020’s would’ve ran 7 seasons and at least 10 episodes per season (any pre-2010’s show would’ve had more like 20 episodes), people are generally surprised “Hacks” still has fresh avenues to explore after only 3 seasons and a meager 24 episodes. While it’s unclear how much longer “Hacks” can keep its vitality (which speaks to our ADD-addled time, whereas TV comedies only 5 years ago were expected to go into 7 or 8 seasons of mostly doing the same thing), season 3 had no such struggles. Even towards the season finale when it looked like we would get yet another estrangement between Deborah and a hurt Ava, the tables were turned when Ava finally started to actually learn from her reluctant-mentor/true-soulmate Deborah Vance, and blackmail her for the job she wants.
5. “Shogun”…This show has been so thoroughly praised that it almost feels rote to include it on a “Best TV of the Year” countdown, and it’s true that people are correct to question if it’s really that good. [There really shouldn’t have been multiple seasons as the pacing starts to feel padded by the end of the first, and the best character dies in the season finale, making me wonder why we’d even want to return to further seasons.] But the cinematography and sense of place are excellent, the shifting power dynamics in a fresh historical territory are riveting, and Anna Sawai delivers one of the best TV performances of the year (if not the best) with a character so fascinating, saying goodbye really, truly sucks.
4. “Ripley”…Andrew Scott’s take on Patricia Highsmith’s infamous grifter differs wildly from Matt Damon’s lovesick puppy. Scott’s Ripley barely seems capable of true feelings, the hawkishness of his mean eyes looking out at the world for something to snatch, and the hidden condescension in his performance gives you an-almost repellant feeling fairly early on. The stark black-and-white cinematography is the best of 2024 television, making us feel immersed in the wonderfully shadowy world of a classic Hollywood noir film. “They don’t make ’em like this anymore” is a fitting descriptor, so we should savor something like “Ripley” all the more.
3. “Ren Faire”…The best “reality” show of the year is like a real life “Succession,” in that several strivers vie for control of the massive Texas Renaissance Festival, while a miserly, mercurial curmudgeon stands between them and the throne. [Watching George take very young women to the same Olive Garden for lunch dates in which he screens them with questions about how real their breasts are–and abruptly leaves if they answer “wrong”–is more cringe-worthy than scripted television could ever be. If you were watching that in a scripted series, you might think his lack of finesse would feel like poor writing.]
I empathized the most with luckless manager Jeff–far more than some of the more conniving inheritors trying to push him out of the way (like a pony-tailed guy with “big ideas” of how to spend his family’s money, most of which sound stupid)–and felt bad when Jeff receives a couple of humiliating demotions throughout the series even as he initially seems to have a lock on securing the Faire. The heartbreak he feels while having his future completely tied to the ever-shifting, possibly-senile mind of a rich prick who doesn’t care about him draws a clean connection between the feudalist structure the Ren Faire portrays and modern-day capitalism, showing things haven’t really changed that much. Well done
The Best Show of 2024: (tie) between “Manhunt” and “Say Nothing”…Two shows based on the true stories of countries in a moment of tearing themselves apart. Separated by a century, they nevertheless show human nature (sadly) stays mostly the same, and both series have more than a little bit to say about our current moment. Both shows even include actor Anthony Boyle as prominent terrorists: an IRA shot caller in “Nothing,” and no less than John Wilkes Booth himself in “Manhunt.”
“Manhunt” follows the search for Booth after he assassinated Lincoln, but even more thrilling are the political maneuverings of Edwin Stanton (Tobias Menzies, an actor better known for playing villains, but excelling completely as an unabashed hero here), a prominent member of Lincoln’s cabinet desperately trying to keep the vision of reconstruction alive against powerful forces (most notably a clueless Vice President Johnson, who is not exactly unsympathetic to white supremacy) trying to squash it. The shifting, murky political landscapes of “Say Nothing” and “Manhunt” work completely as thrilling noirs, but also as allegories for the very scary, dangerously-fluid times we find ourselves in right now (where horrifying executive orders are given daily, and it’s a roll of the dice whether or not they’ll be struck down). Both feature good technical aspects, great performances, and a surprising amount of relevancy; at the end of “Manhunt,” when Stanton barricaded himself into his office so as to protect something crucial from an unqualified President’s wishes, you could only hope some of our real-life people would behave the same way (cough, feckless FBI director Christopher Wray or useless Attorney General Merrick Garland, cough). Never has defying the morality-less legal proceedings of turning over power to someone unfit seemed so exciting.